How hard is it to be a teacher?

My girlfriend is a teacher and she says it is hard, but it really doesn’t sound hard at all.

There is some regular job bullshit (office politics and dealing with annoying parents [no different than annoying customers/clients]), but that is about it.

Just make sure you don’t hate kids.

Other than that, seems like a good gig, you get lots of holiday time

o god a teacher thread. OP you just opened Pandora's box

Not according to that Jethro Tull song.

https://youtu.be/Esp_hOlFqiM

I can’t imagine how hard it must be to work fairly hard for 10 months for a couple years, then kick back and live off the same lesson plan for the next 20-30 years not really caring about anything then retire and collect a pension

Ever masturbated with sandpaper?

You know what youre starting here wrote:

I can’t imagine how hard it must be to work fairly hard for 10 months for a couple years, then kick back and live off the same lesson plan for the next 20-30 years not really caring about anything then retire and collect a pension

Okay troll, before I respond and address the OP who is presumably a troll as well that is not you, enlighten me as to what you do?

I would like to hear how your own work is valid/extremely hard and you supposedly “care about” things and aren’t just working towards retirement.

I’d also love to hear your financial prognostications on whether this easy little pension will exist for these lazy teachers in the not-too-distant future.

wolly wrote:

I've never been a teacher and I only heard from my teachers that the life of a teacher is not an easy one.You will have to deal everyday with kids who have no attention for the class,kids who disturb your class by making noise or by destroying things.Is that part true?I only heard some rumors so I don't know if this is the reality or it's just a dream.

It varies from school to school and class to class. For an ap teacher in a top school, disciplinary problems will be minor. For any teacher in an underperforming school, you may spend more time managing behavior than actually teaching, regardless of your teaching and classroom management ability. In the latter case, you will get kids who do not care, will not care, and will make your work day a living hell. Its very hard for a beginning teacher; you're basically working all day and on weekends. For instance, you have 150 students, and 150 essays turned in thursday and friday and you end up grading 16 hours over saturday and sunday. But when you think about it, some people are working 80-100 hours a week on someone else's schedule and can't just take a break mid day to go run. Teaching is a great gig if you can get in a great school.

On the plus side, education classes at most colleges are easy. This will allow you to focus on your running while physics or engineering majors may get bogged down in school work. For middle and high school teachers, you have to major in the subject you teach so you may have challenging semsters on ocassion. If you're interested in history or english this will allow you to do something applicable with it though. For myself the education classes and some easy semesters were nice as I got to explore the trails and mountains near my school, watch some movies, play a couple video games in addition to running.

Overall, I'd say if you're interested go for it. The skills you pick up teaching can later be applied to a new career or you could move into administration or academia later on if it doesn't pan out.

Its a noble profession. Not much pay, but rewarding seeing kids learn and grow. In today's environment, good luck though because there is no longer any discipline of aszhat kids because you'll quickly get fired for offending some ones idiot kid while trying to do so.

It's not hard but it is emotionally draining. I suspect that most people on this board are young and don't have kids. Many parents can't wait until summer is over and their kids go back to school. If dealing with your own kids is tough imagine dealing with 30+ kids who aren't necessarily motivated.

Having recently retired after 30 plus years at the age of 60 I can't complain.

Depends on the age of the students. College kids are easy. No parent drama. They can drop if they don't like it or be dropped by the teacher if they are a disruption. If they don't want to come to class or pay attention, that's their prerogative, and their grade will reflect it.

Teaching anything under college sounds highly unappealing, and it sounds like you are talking about young kids. F**k that.

Being a teacher is different from a lot of jobs in that you are on stage most of the day and involved in crowd control. You can't just chill out behind your desk, focus on one task, or even go to the bathroom when you want. It's a constant balancing act of trying to motivate and encourage but not get taken advantage of. Even once you are established you need to adapt lessons to fit students' needs and make it relevant to their lives and abilities. Then, there are also a lot of professional development meetings/requirements, after-school activities, and papers to correct, so if you think you'll be done by 3:00, think again. The first few years are especially tough, and depending on your state you'll likely need to do some continuing education over the summer. However, if making money isn't your main goal in life and you have a sense of humor and a lot a patience, it's a rewarding career provided you work at a decent school.

You know what youre starting here wrote:

I can’t imagine how hard it must be to work fairly hard for 10 months for a couple years, then kick back and live off the same lesson plan for the next 20-30 years not really caring about anything then retire and collect a pension

in most cases, the lifespan of lesson plans are much closer to 2-3 years than 20-30. Most teachers are changing subjects, grade level, schools, or curricula pretty consistently.

I'm one of the few people on the thread that is actually qualified to answer the question because I have taught and worked in a variety of other fields ranging from construction to tech. Teaching is harder than average, especially if you care about your student's education, which most teachers do. I left teaching for manual labor construction because it was easier and paid better. My current tech job is 20-30% harder but pays about 4x as much.

I would say teaching 2-3x time more difficult than most people suspect and not quite as hard as most teachers make it out to be.

The lazy/burned-out teachers, coasting by after teaching the same subject for 10+ years probably make up less than 5% of the workforce.

"It varies from school to school and class to class. For an ap teacher in a top school, disciplinary problems will be minor. For any teacher in an underperforming school, you may spend more time managing behavior than actually teaching, regardless of your teaching and classroom management ability. In the latter case, you will get kids who do not care, will not care, and will make your work day a living hell. Its very hard for a beginning teacher; you're basically working all day and on weekends. For instance, you have 150 students, and 150 essays turned in thursday and friday and you end up grading 16 hours over saturday and sunday. But when you think about it, some people are working 80-100 hours a week on someone else's schedule and can't just take a break mid day to go run. Teaching is a great gig if you can get in a great school. "

That is certainly been my situation.

There are many schools in America where the kids do not even speak English.

Yes, and those schools do not last very long!

The best post you will find, OP.

This closely mirrors my thoughts. Incidentally, I have a student teacher this year who is 32 and worked as an auto mechanic before returning to college for a chemistry degree. He helps me coach as well. He recently told me that he never went home as tired after a day under the hood than he did after a day of teaching. The thing that is so tiring is that you're always on the spot.

The complaint about low pay is not universally true. I live in a low cost of living area of a high wage state. My wife and I are both teachers and we live quite well.

You know what youre starting here wrote:

I can’t imagine how hard it must be to work fairly hard for 10 months for a couple years, then kick back and live off the same lesson plan for the next 20-30 years not really caring about anything then retire and collect a pension

+1

Once they get tenure and embraced by the union they are untouchable. They start counting the days and hours to retirement.

Sand Dunes wrote:

Not according to that Jethro Tull song.

https://youtu.be/Esp_hOlFqiM

+1, the world needs more Jethro Tull

Teaching is the best scam going. You work half the day, get long vacations and snow days. Yes, you have to read and grade papers during the evening but if you were corp you'd be working on a spreadsheet or powerpoint till 3am for your boss to take credit anyway. Plus you can coach and you can retire with a PENSION. Being a teacher and being in the service are pretty much the only "jobs" you can get these days where you know you'll be able to retire with a pension. You won't get rich, but you'll have so much down time that it's like half a job.

teaching is great wrote:

Teaching is the best scam going. You work half the day, get long vacations and snow days. Yes, you have to read and grade papers during the evening but if you were corp you'd be working on a spreadsheet or powerpoint till 3am for your boss to take credit anyway. Plus you can coach and you can retire with a PENSION. Being a teacher and being in the service are pretty much the only "jobs" you can get these days where you know you'll be able to retire with a pension. You won't get rich, but you'll have so much down time that it's like half a job.

As a teacher, I actually agree with a lot of this. It’s a pretty good gig. I wouldn’t call it a scam though as I genuinely feel like I “make a difference” for my students. Most good teachers do.